Landing Gear
Wheel Tips and Tricks
Check out the links below for detailed information on nosewheel solutions, and other great ideas!
Axle Reinforcement and Heat Sheild
Nose Wheel Locking System
Nose Wheel Shimmy Dampener
Brake Bleeder - Gietzen
Wheel Alignment Tool - Agnew
Fixed Gear Replacement Bumper
Matco Brakes
I have attached a drawing of the PH6 series Matco caliper
to this note. If you look at this drawing of the caliper
it is obvious why we have such a hard time bleeding them.
The position of the fluid passages relative to a horizontal
line thru each piston hole at the output side will show
where and how much air can be trapped. On my calipers the
pistons are hollow cups so it makes the trapped air worse.
You might want to print out the drawing and then you can
position it like your installed calipers and draw a
horizontal line on the diagram to assist you in determining
how much trapped air you might have and how you might
position the caliper to expel the air. Remember to start
with the piston closest to the fluid inlet for the
positioning. Those with retracts might get good results by
retracting the gear most of the way then trying bleeding
since the air would move to the back of the piston
cylinders. Your mileage may vary! Hope this helps.
This is not a design deficiency, just a matter of caliper positioning.
Jim
James F. Agnew
Jim_Agnew_2 at Yahoo dot Com
Main Gear Booties
The process of installing the Velocity bootie was fairly straight forward.
1. Cut off the damaged portion of the gear leg so that after the bootie is installed you have the same length from axel to fuselage as is recommended by factory.
2. The bootie has a slotted opening which will slide over the leg. You must grind down the outside and inside of the gear leg about 1/8" to make a flat surface and a tight fit for the bootie. The most time consuming part of the job is this as you need to deal with toe in, toe out, and chamber.
3. There is a special epoxy which comes with the bootie. Sand the inside of the aluminum to increase bonding. Apply a fairly heavy coating of the epoxy and allow it to ooze out as the bootie is inserted on the gear. Then clean up the excess epoxy.
4. There are two holes pre-drilled in the bootie. Not sure what size they are but the need to be drilled out to fit bolts supplied in the bootie kit. Drill through the leg and install the bolts. These should be a good tight fit. I found it best to drill half way through the gear from both inboard and outboard directions. Let it set up for twenty four hours and you are ready to fly.
Wheel pants will fit over the bootie so it is not visible. The finished product is very strong and eliminates the concern in the future of heat transfer from the brake disk to the gear leg.
Below are a few pictures of the damaged area and the finished repair.
Lou Stedman
Velocity N7044Q
Olean, NY
Cleveland Brakes
coming soon